Sakura stood up and stretched. She disappeared into the bathroom, which this omniscient mind will refrain from entering. She grabbed an energy bar and an apple and took off from the house, door slamming behind her. Oh, the wind feels great! She slowed down when she neared the Hokage Residence. There was Naruto...
Naruto lay in bed staring at the window. The sun was barely up. He blinked a few times and wiggled his fingers before yanking his animal hat off. He trudged over to his dresser and opened it. Staring him in the eye were 10 pairs of identical training outfits hanging up, and folded up below were an assortment of normal clothing. Soon Naruto was at his kitchen table with a bowl of Ramen and a bowl of cereal. He got up to throw out the milk carton. What he didn't see was the expiry date, which had passed an entire month ago. He dug into the cereal. Man, I'd forgotten how milk tastes! It's so great to be back. The meal was gone in minutes and Naruto was out.
As he rushed towards Tsunade's office, Naruto was already planning... the wrong thing. Today is my chance to impress Sakura! She hasn't seen me for a whole year. Naruto was already in the clouds when Sakura spotted him. Sakura stopped for a moment and waved. Naruto blinked and saw her. The first thing that came to his mind went out of his mouth.
Shikamaru was sitting on a roof near the Hokage residence. The clouds floated by calmly. So calming. Man I wish I were a cloud. Just going slowly around the world for eternity, seeing new things. Wow that one looks like a pineapple. And that one looks like Naruto. Hey that one over there looks like Sakura... He heard steps below. It was Sakura. She was heading for the Hokage residence. Naruto then showed up on the scene as well. "Hey lil' Tsunade!" he called, probably thinking it was a greeting. Oh man this can't be good! She's going to blow out his brains! He thought desperately. Sakura was running towards Naruto and Shikamaru grimaced and her stance changed. Her fist was drawn back and chakra emanated out of it. As she closed in on Naruto Shikamaru began to cover his eyes, but suddenly, a hand reached out from behind him and stopped it. "Don't worry," said his dad. "Watch." To Shikamaru's amazement, Sakura pulled back from a trembling Naruto and hugged the life out of him. He shook his head. "I'll never understand girls."
"Trust me, kiddo. One day you will, and that day will be a very happy day for you."
"Sure."
"I got work to do. I'll see you at dinner Shikamaru." With that Shikaku leapt away. Life is so ironic. The men of my clan are the laziest, yet at the same time the most capable. My dad ends up as the Jonin Commander of Konaha, and I'm stuck as Tsunade's Strategist? Shikamaru laid himself back down on the roof and went back to his "business."
Below, Naruto was stumbling under Sakura's weight. What the heck? Man, I'll never understand women. Sakura was smiling. Thank you Naruto, she thought, although even now she'd rather die than let Naruto know that she didn't really think he was a godamm idiot.
When Sakura finally let go, Naruto was dizzy. I don't blame him. "Whaaa?"
"I'm sorry Naruto. I never realized how much I missed your antics, or your personality. Training was the only distraction I had, because for the rest of the days, there's nothing for me. It was like I lost my whole team." There. It's out...
"I understand Sakura. I'd feel the same if you were gone. I can't imagine how Kakashi feels. His teammates are dead," Naruto said cheerfully, consoling the pink haired girl. He was never one to frown. Sakura and Naruto entered the heart of the village together, sister and brother. Tsunade's eyes narrowed. "You're finally here, eh? Well let's get to the mission. It will be a short one."
"WHAT RANK IS IT GRANNY?" Naruto yelled excitedly eyes in puppy dog mode.
"WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UP?" Tsunade exclaimed, slamming her fist on the table and making Shizune turn white.
"S-s-sorry it won't happen again!" Sakura stammered, digging her fist into Naruto's head, making both of them whimper.
"Anyway... Your mission today is to spar wit-" Tsunade was interrupted by Naruto.
"Spar? What kind of mission is that?" Naruto said, making Tsunade's forehead twitch. Kakashi chose that opportune moment to appear and stop Tsunade's rampage. "You'll be sparring with me, Naruto," Kakishi said matter-of-factly.
Naruto and Sakura found themselves in one of the Konoha training grounds. Kakashi was holding two bells up and shaking them. It's the same excercise as the first one we ever did with Kakashi... Except without Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura thought. "Well, your only goal is to retrieve these bells from me," Kakashi stated, hooking the bells to his pocket. Naruto grinned. "Here I go!" he said. Nar uto pulled out three shuriken and tossed them at Kakashi. What Kakashi didn't know, however, was that there was a fourth one hiding in the shadows of the first three, which was a shadow clone. It was Sasuke who taught him that, all those years before. Sasuke looked down at Naruto from the tree. "You're lucky I even bothered to come. Would you get it right already?" He called to Naruto. "I'm trying!"
Dude, if you can't put it perfectly in the shadow of one shuriken, you can't do it. That gave Naruto an idea. Naruto looked at Sasuke and threw three shuriken at him. Sasuke leapt up and landed back on the branch. "What are you thinking!" he shouted. Naruto grinned. A poof sounded behind Sasuke and a shadow clone had Sasuke in a hug. "Thanks Sasuke." Sasuke was frozen in horror, but Naruto wanted to jump for joy.
Kakashi easily dodged the shuriken and retaliated by tossing a volley of shuriken at Naruto. Naruto jumped to dodge the first set. Kakashi threw another volley to intercept, but Naruto thought fast. "Shadow Clone!" A clone appeared beside him and yanked him midair out of the flight path of the shuriken. Improved timing, Kakashi thought. Naruto transformed his clone into a windmill shuriken and drew back to throw, but Kakashi moved like lightning and rushed to Naruto. He grabbed his arms and twisted them into the same vice grip Naruto had been stuck in all those years ago. Naruto feigned frustration to keep Kakashi's attention. Suddenly, a snicker came from behind Kakashi. Naruto's clone had re-transformed and now held a kunai to Kakashi's torso. Sakura gasped. Ingenius! Naruto has gotten smarter. He's actually plannning ahead...
"Interesting Naruto. You've definitely matured. But there's still one problem," Kakashi explained. Naruto raised his eyebrow. "You're as impatient as ever. Wait for my go." Naruto rolled his eyes.
Kakashi closed his eyes, much to everyone's surprise. "Alright. Ready, Set..."
Thanks for reading everyone. I'm sorry it came out late, I uploaded the wrong file then I lost the file itself. Next week, the battle!
